Multiplex PCR was established for differential diagnosis of taeniasis and cysticercosis, including their causative agents. For identification of the parasites, multiplex PCR with cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 gene yielded evident differential products unique for Taenia saginata and Taenia asiatica and for American/African and Asian genotypes of Taenia solium with molecular sizes of 827, 269, 720, and 984 bp, respectively. In the PCRbased detection of tapeworm carriers using fecal samples, the diagnostic markers were detected from 7 of 14 and 4 of 9 T. solium carriers from Guatemala and Indonesia, respectively. Test sensitivity may have been reduced by the length of time (up to 12 years) that samples were stored and/or small sample volumes (ca. 30 to 50 mg). However, the diagnostic markers were detected by nested PCR in five worm carriers from Guatemalan cases that were found to be negative by multiplex PCR. It was noteworthy that a 720 bp-diagnostic marker was detected from a T. solium carrier who was egg-free, implying that it is possible to detect worm carriers and treat before mature gravid proglottids are discharged. In contrast to T. solium carriers, 827-bp markers were detected by multiplex PCR in all T. saginata carriers. The application of the multiplex PCR would be useful not only for surveillance of taeniasis and cysticercosis control but also for the molecular epidemiological survey of these cestode infections.Taenia solium, Taenia saginata, and Taenia asiatica are known as causative agents of taeniasis in humans. T. solium also causes cysticercosis in humans. In particular, neurocysticercosis caused by larval T. solium cysticerci developed in the central nervous system is the most serious disease characterized by diverse neurologic symptoms, most commonly epileptic seizure (5,20). In contrast to cysticercosis, taeniasis is relatively innocuous, with the adult stages of these cestodes infecting the small intestine of humans and causing a few specific symptoms, such as abdominal pain and nausea (15). However, gravid proglottids filled with eggs expelled from tapeworm carriers serve as a new source of infection for intermediate hosts, particularly in developing countries where sanitary conditions are poor. Therefore, early detection and adequate treatment of taeniasis is important for the prevention of cysticercosis infections. Furthermore, reliable epidemiological information for use in the effective control of taeniasis or cysticercosis, including accurate tools for parasite identification, is needed. To date, proglottids and scolices expelled from tapeworm carriers or cysticerci collected from intermediate hosts have been identified morphologically. In Asian regions, however, T. saginata and T. asiatica are frequently confused due to their morphological similarities. Moreover, a recent study demonstrates that two distinct genotypes of T. solium exist, i.e., Asian and American/African genotypes (14). DNA differential diagnosis is considered very useful for the accurate identification of human taeniid...

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Three human taeniid species, Taenia solium, Taenia saginata and Taenia asiatica are distributed in Indonesia. A field survey conducted in Bali from 2002 to 2006 showed that the prevalence of taeniasis was highly variable among four districts (1.1-27.5%), and only two cysticercosis cases due to T. solium infection were detected. All tapeworms (n = 66) expelled from 66 tapeworm carriers were confirmed to be T. saginata by mitochondrial DNA analysis. A total prevalence of 13.0% (19/146) for T. solium taeniasis was found in Jayawijaya District,

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is the most potentially lethal parasitic zoonosis of the nontropical areas in the northern hemisphere, where cystic echinococcosis (CE) is also endemic. Both AE and CE are highly endemic in China, and both serologic detection of echinococcosis, either AE or CE, and differentiation of AE from CE are crucial problems. Evaluation of Western blot analysis (WB) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the Em18 antigen, using affinity-purified and recombinant Em18, was carried out "blindly" using 60 human sera from patients diagnosed in France. The results were compared with those obtained using a commercially available Echinococcus WB immunoglobulin G (IgG) kit developed in France. The Em18 WB and Echinococcus WB IgG showed very similar results for detection of AE. Both affinity-purified Em18 or a recombinant Em18 WB and Echinococcus WB IgG seem useful for identification of AE, and the latter seems appropriate for both AE and CE, whereas affinity-purified Em18 ELISA and the newly developed recombinant Em18 ELISA appear to be suitable for detection of AE, especially for epidemiological surveys.Alveolar echinococcosis (AE), caused by the metacestode of the fox tapeworm, Echinococcus multilocularis, is the most potentially lethal parasitic zoonosis of the nontropical areas in the northern hemisphere, where cystic echinococcosis (CE), caused by the metacestodes of the dog tapeworm, E. granulosus, is also endemic. For example, both AE and CE are highly endemic in China (8,19) and serological detection of echinococcosis, either AE or CE, and differentiation of AE from CE are crucial problems, since the pathogenicity of these two types of echinococcosis and the treatment of patients with these diseases are critically different (14,16).In Japan and France, immunoblotting (Western blotting [WB]) assay systems have been developed for differentiation of AE from other diseases (4-7). The Asahikawa Medical College (AMC) group in Japan has focused on the detection of antibody response to the Em18 antigen (approximately 18 kDa) extracted from protoscoleces of E. multilocularis (4, 9, 15) and has tried to purify Em18, which shows a single band in WB, and to make it available for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using preparative isoelectric focusing (PIEF). Since purification of Em18 by PIEF takes longer and the yield is not as great, we have shifted to purification of Em18 by affinity chromatography (AffEm18) and production of a recombinant Em18 (RecEm18) for WB and ELISA (7, 9, 10, 13, 18). Echinococcus WB immunoglobulin G (IgG) (EchWB IgG; LDBIO Diagnostics, Lyon, France), which has a high sensitivity for the detection of both AE and CE, is basically very similar to the AMC system since it also focuses on differentiation of AE and CE based on different banding patterns including antigen B (most predominant at 8 and 26 to 28 kDa), Em16, and Em18 in crude antigens. The merit of the latter system is that it detects both AE and CE on a single strip based on the difference in the banding...

The application of eDNA in eco-epidemiology enables the determination of hot spots and safe spots in endemic areas, constituting an alternative ecological tool for follow-up and monitoring of control programs for schistosomiasis, and contributing information on water safety for improving the standard of living of the people in endemic areas.

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We confirmed sympatric occurrence of Taenia solium, T. saginata, and T. asiatica in western Thailand. DNA analysis of morphologically identified T. saginata, in a dual infection with T. solium, indicated it was T. asiatica. To our knowledge, this report is the first of T. asiatica and a dual Taenia infection from Thailand.

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